SFG Summer Book Recommendation List 2026
Sustainable finance moves fast. Summer doesn’t have to. We’ve put together a selection of books worth slowing down for reads that tackle the big questions around capital, climate, and the kind of future we’re collectively building. Happy Summer!
- Serendipity: it doesn’t happen by accident by David Cleevely (2025) *Only in English
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Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think (2012) *Only in English
The headlines say the world is in worse shape than ever. Diamandis and Kotler push that back. Drawing on extensive research and interviews with leading innovators, they argue that four converging forces: exponential technologies, grassroots DIY innovation, technophilanthropy, and the rising billion newly connected to the digital economy; are quietly solving humanity’s greatest challenges. From clean water to healthcare and education, abundance for all is not a fantasy but an achievable near-term reality. A timely antidote to pessimism, and essential reading for anyone working at the intersection of technology, finance, and impact.
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(2022) *Only in English
Stakeholder capitalism is easy to endorse and hard to implement. Alison Taylor, clinical professor at NYU Stern and former adviser to major multinationals on ethics and anti-corruption, cuts through the noise with a practical guide for leaders navigating today’s expectations. When should a company take a stand on social issues? How do you build a culture of genuine accountability? How do you balance shareholder pressure? Taylor doesn’t offer answers, she offers a realistic framework for companies that want to act with integrity and turn it into long-term strategic advantage. Essential reading for anyone at the intersection of business, governance, and sustainability.
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(2021) * Only in English
Corporate scandals are usually told as stories of villains. Palazzo and Hoffrage, both business ethics professors at the University of Lausanne, argue this misses the point entirely. Most misconduct is not driven by bad people, but by ordinary ones who have become ethically blind. Drawing on behavioral science, they identify nine toxic elements that quietly erode an organization’s moral compass. A great read for anyone serious about governance, compliance, and building truly resilient institutions.
- La machine à détruire: pourquoi il faut en finir avec la finance (2024) *Only in French
Un roman graphique aussi accessible qu’engagé. Ancienne banquière reconvertie en militante, Aline Farès retrace son parcours personnel pour décrypter les mécanismes de la finance contemporaine, des crises à répétition aux renflouements bancaires, en passant par la montée des inégalités et l’affaiblissement des États. Avec humour et rigueur documentaire, elle pose une question centrale : les solutions financières, y compris la finance verte, sont-elles vraiment à la hauteur des enjeux ? Un regard critique et salutaire, particulièrement pertinent pour quiconque travaille à la transformation du système financier.
- Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI (2026) * Only in English
From the oracles of ancient Greece to today’s credit scoring algorithms, the prediction business has always been about power. Oxford professor Carissa Véliz argues that modern AI plays the same role as the prophets and astrologers of the past: turning uncertainty into authority over other people’s lives. Whether it’s a loan application, a job screening, or a medical decision, algorithmic forecasts increasingly act as verdicts. Witty and rigorous the book makes a compelling case that what we need is not more prediction, but better preparation and the freedom to live lives that haven’t been pre-assigned by someone else’s model.
- Braiding Sweetgrass (2013) * In English and in French
What if plants could teach us about reciprocity, gratitude, and living within our means? Botanist and Potawatomi citizen Robin Wall Kimmerer weaves together indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge to offer a radical rethinking of our relationship with the natural world. A poetic, grounding read that quietly challenges the assumptions underlying how we value the living world around us.
- The Overstory by Richard Powers (2018) * In English and in French
Nine strangers are brought together by trees: a chestnut passed down through generations, a sentinel redwood, a mulberry that outlives a family. As their lives converge around the fight to protect the last old-growth forests of North America. Drawing on the science of plant communication and intelligence, the book argues that trees think, communicate, and act on timescales humans can barely perceive and that the real tragedy of deforestation is not losing a resource, but destroying a civilisation older than our own. Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
